The present invention relates to ultraviolet ray, debris and rain protection devices, more particularly, to an awning device, an associated kit and an method of using the kit to assemble and use an auxiliary rain shield over a sleeping unit slidably attached to a recreational camping vehicle.
Many relatively new mobile homes, recreational vehicles or the like are provided with a large rectangular opening in one side wall thereof in which a box-like enclosure commonly referred to as a xe2x80x9cslide-out unitxe2x80x9d is disposed for slidable movement between a retracted and extended position. When the slide-out unit is extended, it forms a perpendicular extension from the side wall of the mobile home, thereby enlarging the internal usable space. When the unit is retracted, it is drawn into the interior of the mobile home and the unit is normally only retracted when the mobile home is transported. When the slide-out unit is retracted, an outer wall of the slide-out unit, which is parallel with the side wall in which the unit is mounted, becomes coplanar with the side wall. One problem with slide-out units has resided in the fact that many of these have canvas roofs that are prone to leaking during wet weather when a user touches the interior surface of the canvas roofs. Another problem with slide-out units is that debris such as leaves, blowing trash and the like will frequently collect on the top of the slide-out unit while the unit is extended, and when the unit is retracted into the interior of the mobile home, the debris is also brought into the interior.
A wide variety of awnings is currently available on the commercial market and an even larger number of these types of devices are known in the art of awnings, for example, the awning for travel trailers and/or mobile homes disclosed by Duda in U.S. Pat. No. 3,324,869; the camping trailer disclosed by Bontrager in U.S. Pat. No. 3,377,098; the cantilevered camping vehicle bed construction disclosed by Bowen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,908; the locking mechanism for slide-out room cover disclosed by Becker in U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,536; the retractable awning for recreational vehicle or the like disclosed by Murray and Marasco in U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,440; the slide-out disclosed by Brutsaert in U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,824; and the convertible top for fire engines disclosed by Walthers, Sr. in U.S. Pat. No. D207,309. requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe interconnected components of two pair of securing brackets, a pair of corner posts, a generally rectangular sheet, a primary adhesive strip, and a complementary adhesive strip. This combination of elements would specifically match the user""s particular individual needs of making it possible to provide a means for protecting a sleeping unit against water damage caused by rain. The above-described patents make no provision for these interconnected components of two pair of securing brackets, a pair of corner posts, a generally rectangular sheet, a primary adhesive strip, and a complementary adhesive strip.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved awning device having the interconnected components of two pair of securing brackets, a pair of corner posts, a generally rectangular sheet, a primary adhesive strip, and a complementary adhesive strip. In this respect, the awning device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a means for protecting a sleeping unit against water damage caused by rain.
The present device, kit and method of using, according to the principles of the present invention, overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a awning device, an associated kit and method of using the kit to assemble the device. The device includes the interconnected components of two pair of securing brackets, a pair of corner posts, a generally rectangular sheet, a primary adhesive strip, and a complementary adhesive strip. The interconnected components of the device make up the auxiliary rain shield over the sleeping unit which provides the sleeping unit additional protection from water damage. The kit includes the unassembled components of the device. The method of using the kit includes the steps of adjoining, affixing, aligning, connecting, extending, hooking, mounting, obtaining, and screwing.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known type awning devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved awning device, which will be described subsequently in great detail, is to provide a new and improved awning device which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a the interconnected components of two pair of securing brackets, a pair of corner posts, a generally rectangular sheet, a primary adhesive strip, and a complementary adhesive strip. The interconnected components of the device make up the auxiliary rain shield over the sleeping unit which provides the sleeping unit additional protection from water damage.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution of the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include a plurality of screw attaching together the securing brackets to the sleeping unit. There are of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved awning device that has all the advantages of the prior art awning device and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved awning device that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved awning device that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such multipurpose storage unit and system economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new awning device that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thererof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a awning device having the interconnected components of two pair of securing brackets, a pair of corner posts, a generally rectangular sheet, a primary adhesive strip, and a complementary adhesive strip. This combination of elements makes it possible to provide a means for protecting a sleeping unit against water damage caused by rain.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a kit comprising the unassembled components of the device.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of using comprising the steps of adjoining, affixing, aligning, connecting, extending, hooking, mounting, obtaining, and screwing.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and description matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.